Tyrant Lizard Hero!
by Nate The Ape
Summary: Rex has always been an uncertain, neurotic, rank-and-file toy. But when an innocent is in mortal danger, will Rex find the courage to save their life? Complete!
1. Chapter 1

**Well, I just got back from seeing Toy Story 3 at my local theater. It was a great movie in every sense of the word, and a stellar, touching end to the trilogy. As usual, various characters engaged in thrilling, heart-pumping acts of heroism and courage. However, it occurred to me afterward that although he's definitely no wuss, we never really got to see Rex do anything especially heroic in any of the movies. So I wrote this fanfic to give him the opportunity. :)**

**Spoilers contained for those who haven't seen this gem yet.**

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Of the very few things that annoyed Rex-privately of course-the worst was not being able to accomplish very much with his minuscule arms. Thankfully, he had his devoted friends to help him, both old, like Buzz, and new, like Bonnie's Triceratops, Trixie.

At the moment, she was standing next to him, head expectantly cocked as he read from Bonnie's copy of _Black Beauty_, illustrations included. Sitting before him in a semi-circle were Woody, Jesse, Bullseye, Buttercup, Buzz, and Mrs. Potato Head (Her husband had decided to spend the time teaching their adopted sons how to draw, telling her "There's no way I'm going to sit and listen to some boring, prissy horse story!)

Eyes wide, the toys listened as Rex read from the chapter where Black Beauty and his friend Ginger were in a hotel stable that had caught on fire. No doubt it dredged up horrible memories of their near-doom in the landfill incinerator.

Rex certainly had to struggle to keep his composure as he said "'I did not know what it was, but there was something in the sound so strange that it made me tremble-' Next page Trixie."

Raising his right foot off the book's spine, Rex stepped back as his new gal pal delicately slid the point of one of her brow horns under the next page and flipped it over.

"Thanks." Rex told her. "Now where were we? Oh yeah. '-tremble all over. The other horses were now all awake; some were pulling at their halters, others were stamp-"

"Hate to break into storytime guys, but we have a situation unfolding out here," Hamm broke in from his perch on the windowsill, where he'd been luxuriating in the sun.

"A situation?" Rex cried, wringing his hands.

"What do you mean by that?" Woody asked.

"The Discovery Channel sort," Hamm responded grimly. "Come and look."

Immediately, a curious Rex joined his friends in leaping off the short table, down to a chair, and then to the floor. With Jesse's assistance from behind, Rex managed to join the others on the narrow ledge, where he dug in his foot claws for support.

"You mean Discovery as in Mythbusters?" Buzz commented as he pulled himself up and then stood erect in one fluid motion. "Man, do I ever love that show! That time when they blew up the cement truck was just _aweso_-"

"No, I mean more like Predators of the Wild," Hamm corrected. "Look," he said, pointing.

"All I see is just some gray cat out on the lawn-" Buttercup began. "Oh, that's not good," he said as he saw what the animal was doing.

Ears pressed against her head, an eager, predatory glint illuminating her eyes and demeanor, the gray cat was slinking forward over the grass, stalking a baby cardinal that had fallen from its nest and wandered out into the open.

"Oh no, that varmit's going to kill the poor thing!" Jesse cried, her hands going up to her mouth.

"Well, not if I can help it," Woody said. "But we've gotta do it fast," he said, even as he leapt for one of the latches alongside the window and pulled it down until it popped, Buzz assisting him.

"Um, should we really be doing anything at all?" Slinky said warily. "I don't want to sound unfeeling here, and I'm definitely no fan of cats, but this is kinda how the Circle of Life works, ya know."

"Slink, may I draw your attention to the green collar that kitty's wearing?" Hamm dryly answered. "That means she has an owner, which means she gets fed plenty, which means she isn't going to kill that bird for food, but-"

"Just for sport, which is senseless," Trixie cut in as she looked at Slinky.

"Touche," the dog knowingly smiled. "What's the plan Sheriff?"

"Well, as soon as we get this window open, Buzz, I want you to immediately glide out onto the lawn and get between the cat and the bird. With your armor and your strength, the cat shouldn't be much of a danger to you, even if you have to make a stand."

"You've got it Woody," Buzz said with a salute.

What came out of Rex's mouth next shocked him to the core.

"Wait!" he cried, waving his little arms. "I'll do it!"

Everyone went still, looking at him in amazement.

"You Rex? You?" Woody said.

"Since when did you become the gung-ho hero type?" Slinky said, blinking.

"Normally I'm not," Rex babbled, "but that's one of my great-great-great-great-ever so great-grandkids about to be killed out there!"

"You do know you're a toy, and that you don't have any children, right?" Jesse drawled, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, but that doesn't change the fact that birds are direct descendants of us dinosaurs!" Rex responded in agitation. "What sort of great-uncle would I be if I didn't intervene?

"Well, then get to it and make us proud," Woody offered as he, Buzz, and Trixie pushed the window up.

As they cleared out from in front of the , only Trixie remained, a little to the side.

"Be careful Rex," she said softly as he tensed himself for the leap. And then, closing his eyes, Rex sprung into empty air, falling, crashing into the bushes as twigs tore at and scraped his vinyl hide, then smacking into the cool, moist smelling dirt beneath Bonnie's window.

As he felt the impact, he thought, _Maybe this was a dumb idea. A very, very dumb idea! I should've left it to Buzz!_

**Next up, the exciting confrontation and conclusion! R&R, if you please!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to all my reviewers! Enjoy the final part of this fic!**

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But it was too late for turning back now. Turning onto his belly, Rex got to his feet, and strode through the bushes. _I attacked Emperor Zurg and defeated him in the elevator shaft that one time,_ he thought optimistically, to stoke his courage. _And in Andy's eyes I was always the fiercest, most terrible dinosaur in the world! Surely I can take on a kitty cat?_ Like his prehistoric inspiration, the green T. Rex emerged out into the open from the miniature jungle.

At the same moment, the baby cardinal made a yelping chirp of terror. It had seen the cat now, and was trying to escape, jumping and fluttering about a foot's distance each time across the grass. All the while, it chirped and chirped in absolute terror.

Its helplessness and the fear in its eyes-_isn't that a lyric from one of Woody's favorite songs?_- was too much for Rex to stand, and he _tore _over the stretch of lawn, vinyl legs pounding and now it had become a desperate race, for the cat was charging too, flying like some dark angel at her victim-Jessie imploring "Faster Rex, faster!"-

The gray cat leapt like a ball bouncing into the air, her ivory claws bared, eager to smash the bird to the ground and break its neck with her white daggers of teeth-and was knocked off balance as Rex, using his tail for leverage, kicked her hard in the side with both his feet.

Tumbling sideways, the cat gave a brief, shocked yowl as the dinosaur planted himself between her and the baby cardinal. For the first time ever, he found himself uttering a deep, volcanic, awful snarl as he fearlessly stared the gray cat down.

"Go back to your litter box and leave the bird alone," Rex bluffed, drawing himself up, "or I'll have to make you extinct!" _My Gosh, was that actually __**me **__saying that?_

The cat merely hissed at the plastic meat-eater before whipping around him in an attempt to get at the baby bird again. Lunging forward, Rex grabbed her collar and bit down, hanging on to the knit fabric like a bulldog, digging in his heels and straining backward with all his might.

Flipping on her side, the cat gave a growling yowl, and raked Rex's right side and upper tail with her hind claws, scratching his face at the same time.

"Aaahhhhh!" Rex shouted in pain as he let go of the cat's collar and fell on his left side.

"REX!" Woody shouted out as Bullseye neighed in concern.

The cat leapt forward and gave him a quick, sharp bite. Being made of hard plastic, Rex's hide couldn't be pierced, but it still hurt all the same.

Then she was hurdling over him, intent on the bird once more. Rex was hurting. But he also knew that although the cat could cause him pain, she couldn't damage or destroy him, even if she bit and scratched for a hundred years.

She could and would, destroy the defenseless nestling however. He couldn't let that happen! He had to drive this cat away, or at least buy the bird time to escape!

As the furry tail passed overhead, Rex lunged up at the appendage, and clamped down.

Instantly the cat went wild, screeching as she began turning in tight circles, scratching and clawing whatever parts of the dinosaur she could reach.

For Rex, everything became a sudden blur of wind and color. He closed his eyes tightly, hanging on grimly as he felt the cat's claws rake his tail and hindquarters, his head smash into the dirt again and again, the grass pull at his body. It never seemed to stop.

He heard Trixie shout "That's it, I've gotta help him!"

"Hey, he wanted to be the big hero," Mr. Potato Head said snidely, "so let him deal with the consequences on his own."

"He needs help!" Trixie cried. "Hang on Rex, I'm coming!"

Rex thought he heard something crash into the bushes under the window, but wasn't sure. The way his head was swimming from being dragged and spun in circles so much, he wasn't sure of much of _anything_.

His grip on the cat's tail was weakening. He knew that she would break free at any moment, and he just prayed that the cat would either forget about the bird and run away, or the nestling would've found a safe place to hide by then.

Battered and tired, Rex let go of the gray cat's tail, collapsing to the ground. He heard the cat turn, and felt the crushing pain as she bit him in her fury, once, twice, before wheeling around and taking off-in a direction away from the baby cardinal.

He heard someone running close by a few seconds later, and then another pained "Mmmrrrrooowwwwrrr!" as the cat ran even faster, her footfalls disappearing.

Wearily turning around and shakily getting to his feet, Rex smiled as he saw Trixie returning, a bit of gray fur stuck to the tip of her right horn.

"Thanks so much for coming to help me out," he said, spitting fur out of his mouth.

"Car coming!" Slinky shouted. "Everyone out get of sight or stay still!"

Hurriedly, the two dinosaurs adopted static, fierce-looking poses, and froze until the gray luxury sedan had passed by.

When it had gone, both of them relaxed, Rex scraping the last of the fur out from between his teeth as the other toys cheered.

"Help ya?" Trixie laughed. "Nah. You already had that cat whupped, as Jessie would say, by the time I showed up. I just put in the last word."

An excited glow, a deep thrill grew inside Rex, and he grinned.

"You mean, I won?"

"You sure did," Trixie affirmed, smiling.

"Yay! I actually got in a fight and won!" Rex yelled, leaping up into the air.

Remembering the nestling, he inquired, "But what should we do about the baby bird now? It could get out onto the road and be run over, or another cat could show up, or a raccoon could eat it when nighttime comes."

Trixie cocked her head briefly, considering. Then her eyes lit up. "I've got an idea! You get the bird and bring it over to the flowerbed on the side of the walkway. I'll have Buzz get down here in the meantime."

And without further ado, she turned back to Bonnie's window and shouted, "Buzz, we'll need you down here!" as Rex broke into a run for the cardinal chick.

Exhausted from its futile attempts to fly away, the nestling had chosen to lie perfectly still in the grass once it'd realized the cat was no longer chasing it. When it saw Rex coming in its direction though, it tried to flee again, hopping toward the road this time.

Fortunately, Rex ran it down with feet to spare, leaned forward, and gently grabbed it in his plastic jaws, saying "It's all right little guy. We won't hurt you."

The bird seemed to think otherwise, crying bloody murder and flailing wildly, pecking the side of the dino's head with its already powerful beak.

Delicately yet firmly, Rex tightened his grip a little and carried the bird back to where Trixie, now joined by Buzz, was waiting by the flowerbed.

"Excellent work pal," Buzz congratulated as Rex walked up to them.

Placing the cardinal on the ground, Rex stood erect as the bird immediately scurried under a plant and crouched down

Respectfully, all three toys waited until the baby calmed down. Then, with the utmost politeness and slowness, Trixie walked up to where it was crouching, looking it over.

On seeing her, the baby bird raised its head and gaped expectantly, twittering.

"I think it wants us to feed it," Trixie thoughtfully surmised.

"Me too," Rex agreed. "But what do baby birds eat?"

"Worms and bugs I'd guess," Buzz ventured.

Putting two and two together, Rex could've blanched as he went "Yugh! I don't wanna touch disgusting bugs or worms!"

"Don't worry, Buzz'll do it," Trixie told him.

"I will?" Buzz commented uncomfortably.

"Besides," Trixie went on, ignoring the space ranger, "we need a brave, strong dinosaur like you back here in case that cat shows up," giving a mischievous wink.

As Buzz strode off and began parting the bushes, Trixie inspected him, suddenly all concern.

"Are you okay Rex?" she asked. "I saw you get bit a couple times, and definitely get clawed."

"I'm fine," he assured her. "It still hurt, but no damage was done, except maybe a tiny bit of plastic was shaved off, and you can't even notice it. See?"

Nodding, Trixie said, "You're right. I'm glad my hero came out so well," affectionately brushing his left thigh with the side of her head.

Rex was overjoyed.

At that moment, Buzz came back, declaring, "Managed to find some bird food for the little guy."

In one of his dirt-smeared hands he clutched a struggling beetle, a bucking cricket in the other.

Excited, the baby bird reared back and gaped, twittering in expectation. As Buzz touched the cricket to its mouth, it latched on to the insect and gulped it down alive.

"Uh, that is so gross!" Rex shuddered, turning away.

The bird begged for more, and Buzz obliged by giving it the beetle, which it accepted happily. After swallowing, it made a feeble, half-hearted request for a third mouthful, than laid back down.

"You know, we can't possibly take care of it 24/7," Buzz neutrally commented, looking at it, and then both dinos.

"Ah, but that's why we put it here," Trixie pointed out, "so Bonnie or her mom will discover it. In fact, based on the sun's position, Bonnie's mom should show up to get the mail out of the mailbox any minute-"

"Heads up guys!" Woody shouted from the open window. "Bonnie's mom is just a block away! We're going to shut the window so she doesn't get suspicious. And Rex, you did _great_!"

As the cowboy doll's head disappeared from view, Rex beamed with so much pride he felt he could crack in two. Woody, their brave, resourceful leader, had just said he did great. And not good, but great! He wanted to do a little dance, but had to become inert as Bonnie's mother pulled up alongside the mailbox in her car and extended her arm out the window to open the door and extract the contents, rock music spilling out into the warm air.

Her arm disappeared, the window shut, and she turned into the driveway, shutting the engine off and stepping out. Dressed in a pair of khaki short shorts and a white T-shirt that read I LUV CHINCHILLAS in brown letters underneath a picture of the animal, she walked towards them, sorting through the mail as she softly sang, "Well I'm still imagining, a dark lit place, or your place or my place. Well, I'm not paralyzed, but I seem to be struck by you. I want to mak-"

Noticing the trio, she sighed in exasperation, muttering "Oh Bonnie. If I've told her to pick up her toys and bring them back inside after she's done once, I've told her a hundred times," as she stooped down. "Looks like she's been playing Dinosaur Planet again."

Then there was a sharp chirp of fear from under one of the plants below her, and Rex saw her jerk back in surprise, eyes widening behind her glasses.

At the same moment, the baby cardinal came stumbling out into the open, chirping all the while.

"Oh my gosh, a baby cardinal!" Bonnie's mother declared in amazement. Picking it up in her free hand as it struggled, she told it, "It's okay little dude, I won't hurt ya. Calm down. I wonder where your parents are," she pondered, looking around for a few moments.

Then, seeming to come to a decision, she carefully placed the nestling in her pocket, keeping the lip shut with one hand, the mail wedged between her thumb and pointer finger, while she took her house key out of the other and unlocked the door, stepping inside.

When the door shut, Rex laughed, saying "Yes! Your plan worked Trixie! Good job!"

"Well, I say the thanks goes more to our owner's mom, and to you for keeping the bird alive long enough to be helped at all," the Triceratops replied bashfully.

"Still, it was nicely executed," Buzz commented. "Here she comes!"

Frozen once more, they were all silent as Bonnie's mom emerged out of the house, picked them up in her arms, saying, "Can't be leaving you guys out here all afternoon," and carried them back inside, setting the two dinosaurs and space ranger down in a heap on the linoleum before she turned and checked on the baby cardinal, which she had placed in an old shoebox filled with shredded paper.

"Now don't you worry," he heard her say to it, "you're safe now, and I'm going to find someone who can take good care of you. But you just rest while I put these toys of my daughter's back where they belong."

Once more Rex was picked up, and carried down the hallway to Bonnie's room, where her mother pushed open the slightly ajar door and placed him on the floor with Trixie and Buzz. After shutting the door, everyone waited until her footsteps had subsided before speaking, and even then in normal, modulated tones.

"Awesome work Rex," Woody told him, patting him on the back. "You were excellent!"

"Yeah, you gave that ornery kitty what for!" Jesse whooped.

"Heh, heh, had her going in circles like a top!" Mr. Potato Head laughed, shaking his two-fingered hand. "Oh, and for all those times I ever called you a wuss or a coward, I didn't mean a word of it. Really."

"Hey, it's no problem," Rex cheerily assured him.

Knocking her husband aside, Mrs. Potato Head seized him in a choking embrace, squealing "Oh Rex, you were so _brave_! You're such a hero, saving that bird!"

"You have saved the immature feathered being's life! It shall be eternally grateful!" the three pizza place aliens chanted in unison.

Coming forward, a solemn expression on his cloth features, Mr. Pricklepants took one of Rex's hands in both his own, proclaiming, "You have performed a noble deed of heroism that shall go down in history, as long as toys speak of-"

He was cut off when Buttercup, standing near the door, pricked up his ears and whispered loudly, "Hush! I hear her coming back!"

Everyone went quiet and limp as the footfalls of Bonnie's mother became louder, than stopped outside the door briefly before moving on. All the while, she was talking on her cell phone, saying, "I'm so glad I got in touch with you DNR folks. Yeah, just being a good citizen. So just to make sure, the name of this wildlife rehabilitator is Alexis Ferrera, and her number is 259-1835..."

Then Rex could hear nothing else.

Uncertainly, every toy got back to their feet, listening. Only when they heard the engine start up and saw the car leave the driveway, an old shoebox with crude airholes sitting in the front seat, did the congratulations resume, this time in gleeful earnest.

For once, an overjoyed, dancing with pride Rex, a part of him still wondering how he'd found it in him to do such a thing, was feeling the euphoric sensation of being cheered, of being a hero.

As best she could, Trixie gave him a hug, telling him, "You really lived up to your name today Rex. You truly _were_ kingly."

Overcome, he rubbed the side of his head against hers, lingering before pulling away as she did the same.

"Yeah, I was," he smiled, looking out through the window.

And then, as best as a two legged and a four legged plastic dinosaur could manage, while their friends, old and new, clapped and cheered in a circle, they danced.

_You make me smile like the sun, fall out of bed_  
_Sing like a bird, dizzy in my head_  
_Spin like a record, crazy on a Sunday night_

_You make me dance like a fool, forget how to breathe, _  
_Shine like gold, buzz like a bee_  
_Just the thought of you can drive me wild_  
_Oh, you make me smile_

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**The phrase "fear in his eyes" is a verse from the song _I've Got Friends In Low Places_, by Garth Brooks, which I can definitely see Woody enjoying. The song Bonnie's mother is singing as she leaves the car is of course, _Paralyzer_ by Finger Eleven. The lyrics at the end are from _You Make Me Smile_, by Uncle Kracker.**

**I hope you all enjoyed this Rex-centric tale.**


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